When purchasing a vehicle, one of the things you likely consider will be its safety features. After all, you rely on these features to protect you in the event of an auto accident. So, what happens if those safety features fail? One feature that has gained some attention in recent years due to a number of failures is airbags. You may have heard about a recall of more than 17 million vehicles in the United States that contained airbags made by Takata Corporation, impacting major manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Nissan. The defective airbags deployed with excessive force, resulting in shards of metal becoming projectiles. However, there have also been other instances of airbags failing outside of the Takata recall, including airbags failing to deploy, deploying when not necessary, and being too slow to deploy.

Let’s take a look at what happens when your airbag fails and what legal action you can take with the help of a personal injury lawyer in Knoxville.

How Do Airbags Work?

Since 1998, airbags have become a standard safety feature in all passenger vehicles. All have front airbags, but some models may also have side airbags for additional protection in case of an accident. Airbags are hidden within breakaway panels with electronic controls that sense when the vehicle has crashed and trigger inflation of the airbags. Airbags are designed to deploy in just 55 milliseconds, so it is almost instantaneous and travels at around 200 miles per hour.

Airbag Injuries

Unfortunately, due to the speed of deployment, even without any malfunction of the airbag, sometimes injuries are sustained. Some of the most common injuries that are caused by airbags will include the following:

  • Lacerations & Abrasions
  • Bruises
  • Broken Bones
  • Whiplash
  • Facial Injuries
  • Sprained Wrists
  • Burns to the Face, Neck & Arms

If you do sustain injuries as a result of airbag deployment you may be entitled to compensation, so it is important to contact a personal injury lawyer in Knoxville to discuss your options. If there has been a malfunction with the airbag, you may be able to pursue legal action against the manufacturer, but even if the airbag deployed correctly, if the accident was not your fault, you may still be able to seek compensation from the other driver. A personal injury lawyer in Knoxville can help guide you through the process and advise you on the best course of action to take.

Who Is Responsible If My Airbag Didn't Deploy?

When airbags work as intended, they can save your life in the event of an auto accident. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) frontal airbags have saved over 50,000 lives in the United States since their introduction. But what happens when your airbags do not deploy during an accident? Who is responsible?

When your airbag fails to deploy, it does not help to minimize the injuries sustained, and if it deploys too late after the impact, it can increase your risk of injury. Who can be held responsible is going to vary depending on why your airbags didn't deploy as expected. Some of the common reasons for failure include the following:

  • The Impact Was Not Severe Enough to Trigger Airbags - Airbags are designed to deploy during auto accidents that have moderate to high impact, they should not deploy at a low speed fender bender.
  • The Airbag Was Turned Off - Most modern vehicles have the ability to turn off airbags either manually or via an automatic sensor when a small child or a carseat is in the passenger seat. However, if you fail to turn the airbags back on they will not deploy, but this is not the fault of the manufacturer. It is a user error.
  • Airbags Were Not Replaced After Previous Accident - If airbags are deployed during an accident they have to be replaced. It is important to make sure this happens following an accident, and it is something you will want to check when purchasing a used vehicle too. Depending on whether or not you were aware that they had not been replaced, a personal injury lawyer in Knoxville may be able to pursue compensation if you are injured in an accident due to failure to replace the airbags.
  • Faulty Airbags - If you receive a recall notice on your vehicle’s airbags it is essential that you take your car to the dealership to have the issue addressed. Failure to do so after you have been alerted of the fault means you may not be able to seek compensation. However, if there has been no recall on your vehicle and the airbags fail to deploy due to an unknown fault, a personal injury lawyer in Knoxville can help you to pursue damages against the manufacturer.
  • Malfunctioning Sensors or Electrical Components - For the airbag to deploy correctly, all of the sensors and other electrical components must be in good working order.

If the reason your airbags did not deploy is due to a fault or improper installation, you can have your personal injury lawyer in Knoxville file a personal injury lawsuit. There are several different parties that may be liable depending on the circumstances and the specific fault. Some of these may include:

  • Manufacturer of the airbags and/or parts and sensors
  • Person or provider that installed the airbags
  • Distributor who supplied the vehicle to your dealership
  • Vehicle manufacturer
  • Car dealership who sold the vehicle

An experienced personal injury lawyer in Knoxville will help you to gather evidence and identify responsible parties helping you to secure compensation for your injuries.

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Butler, Vines and Babb is a leading law firm in Knoxville, TN, with extensive litigation experience in Medical Malpractice Law, Birth Injury Law, Trucking Accident Law, Personal Injury Law, and Business Law. Contact us today at www.bvblaw.com or call 865-637-3531.

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